Lux Helsinki kicks off today – doves of peace illuminate City Hall

Finland’s biggest light art event, Lux Helsinki, kicks off today, Wednesday 8 January. The event will run until Sunday 12 January.

Lux Helsinki kicks off today. The event spreads out throughout the city centre and will present the most current works of light art to city residents and visitors until Sunday 12 January. Light installations can also be enjoyed at the Mall of Tripla, Kannelmäki, Tapionpuisto in Espoo, and the Lux In event.

The installations will be illuminated daily between 5pm and 10pm. The Lux In event at Kaapelitehdas will be open from 3pm to 10pm. The Lux Morning event will also be held this year, illuminating some of the main installations in the city centre and the Lines installation in Kaivopuisto on Thursday 9 January and Friday 10 January from 7am to 9am.

In the name of peace

To remind people of the importance of peace, doves of peace projected onto the façade of Helsinki City Hall have been added to this year’s Lux Helsinki programme, the theme of which is “Stories from Beyond”. The projection, presented in the name of the Lux Collective, invites viewers to consider how even small actions can promote the cause of peace. The doves represent Helsinki’s support for Ukraine in defending its country from foreign aggression while also sending thoughts of peace to the whole world.

“Helsinki supports Ukraine and hopes that after winning the war it can rebuild its country and prosper. Helsinki continues to help our partner city of Dnipro,” comments Juhana Vartiainen, Mayor of Helsinki.

Another installation that promotes the cause of peace is Love and War by Danish artists Jakob Fälling and Ole Samsøe. The installation projects drawings onto the wall of the Architecture & Design Museum, the contents of which are based on interviews conducted in Ukraine in 2023 during the war.

Anyone walking through the Neitsytpuisto park during Lux Helsinki may hear the melancholic hoots of an owl. Jere Suontausta’s installation Mirrorowl (Bubo speculus) II stares at us on the verge of ecocatastrophe and mass extinction. The previous version of the installation featured at Lux Helsinki 2020 but sadly was later stolen.

The entertaining End Over End installation that got stuck in customs last year will be on display this year on Keskuskatu. The work of Studio Vertigo from the UK, the installation is a giant version of the nostalgic Slinky toy. Each spiral of the work is lit in turn, creating the illusion of flowing movement. The oversized scale of the Slinky makes the viewer feel literally smaller.

You can find out more about all the installations on the Lux Helsinki website.

At your own pace

The light art at this year’s Lux Helsinki are distributed widely across the city centre and surrounding areas. Juha Rouhikoski, Artistic Director of Lux Helsinki, encourages visitors to spend time with the art in the way that suits them best, for example, while enjoying winter activities in the Kaivopuisto park or walking around the city.

Several cafés and restaurants near the installations will have extended opening hours during the event. You can find out more about all the Lux Helsinki cafés here.

Light across generations

Towards the end of 2024, Lux Helsinki and its theme “Stories from Beyond” brought together senior citizens and kindergarten children from Helsinki, who got to design their own light art together utilising a variety of materials, such as yarn, fabrics, paints and glass jars.

The Myllypuro Senior Centre, Madetoja Service Home, and Kannelmäki Service Centre all participated in the event and welcome guests to admire the works during Lux Helsinki from 8 to 12 January 2025. More information about the artworks and their locations can be found here (in Finnish).

The main partners of Lux Helsinki are Granlund, the Old Market Hall, the Mall of Tripla and Scandic Grand Central Helsinki, and its cooperation partners are the Museum of Architecture and Design, the French Institute of Finland, the Theatre Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki, Puistokatu 4 and EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art.

Image: Lux Collective – 1052–1056